Cats roll to SEC finals

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Kentucky is back in the SoutheasternConference tournament title game, a win away from the championshipWildcats fans see as their birthright. DeMarcus Cousins had 19 points and 15 rebounds, and No. 2Kentucky beat 15th-ranked Tennessee 74-45 Saturday and advancedback to the final for the first time since 2004. Kentucky (31-2) will play either No. 20 Vanderbilt orMississippi State on Sunday, looking to add a 26th tournament titleto the 44th regular season championship the Wildcats won in coachJohn Calipari's first season. Eric Bledsoe had 17 points on 5-of-8 shooting from 3-pointrange, and John Wall added 14. The Wildcats improved to aleague-best 113-22 in this tournament and 35-2 in the semifinals. Scotty Hopson had 11 points for Tennessee (25-8), which snappeda five-game winning streak with its worst scoring performance thisseason. The well-rested Wildcats never trailed and scored 14 straightpoints to push the lead to 29 late. That was even though Cousinsmissed a layup off the opening tip. He came back and dunked to putKentucky ahead, and the best Tennessee could do was tie theWildcats three times - the last at 10. These programs don't like each other anyway in the SEC'ssecond-longest series. The addition of Calipari, who brought hispersonal rivalry with Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl from Memphis, andthe high expectations from both teams created an electricatmosphere not seen at this tournament in many years. Kentucky came in trying to cement a No. 1 seed in the NCAAtournament, while Tennessee hoped a win would help earn a No. 3seed. It was billed as a neutral court game, but the transformation ofBridgestone Arena into Rupp South couldn't have been clearer than atext poll in the first half posted on the video board of which teamfans expected to win. Kentucky drew 77 percent in the earlyresults. Every time Tennessee's pep band cranked up "Rocky Top," theWildcats' fans did their best to drown it out, chanting, "Go BigBlue." Tennessee point guard Bobby Maze noticed the blue crowd in thequarterfinals and said Kentucky fans travel like the "Million ManMarch." So the Vols knew exactly what they'd be walking into on acourt technically in their home state but about three hours awayfrom campus - just as it is for the Wildcats. And Pearl had his orange blazer packed and ready for this gameagainst the opponent Tennessee wants to measure its basketballprogram against. The Vols were the last team to beat Kentucky -74-65 in Knoxville on Feb. 27 - as they split the regular seasonseries. Kentucky wound up winning its fourth straight by holdingTennessee to a season-low 19 points in the first half. The Wildcatsimproved to 5-1 in SEC semifinals and 144-66 all-time against theVols. The Volunteers, playing their third game in as many days, gotinto early foul trouble, and they spent more time pleading withofficials than hitting shots. Kentucky did hit more free throws(16-of-30) than Tennessee attempted (9-of-15). Officials were busy, handing out double technicals twice in thesecond half with Tennessee guard Melvin Goins ejected after both atechnical and a flagrant foul with 3:33 left. Tennessee pulled within 45-39 on a bucket by Brian Williams with9:27 left. That was as close as the Vols would get. Patrick Patterson dunked for only his second field goal, Bledsoehit a 3, then Darnell Dodson hit consecutive 3s before dunking onan alley-oop pass from Darius Miller to put Kentucky up 58-41 with6:02 remaining. The Cats just kept adding to it from there.

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